Sore back.....?

Question

My horses back gets sore(we were told this by his old owners) around a year ago we noticed it was sore and took him to the vet. She has us change saddles and injected his back and hocks. She gave us about 6 months with the abount of jumping he was doing before we needed to do it again. It has been a year since and we are just noticing it is sore again. The vet we use for this(we don't trust just any vet) lives 2 hours from us and is very busy so it might be another week before we can get him up there. Hes not in a TON of pain just arches a little when you tuch a cirtin(sp) spot on his back(the same spot as a year ago) like I said it might be a week before we can take him to the vet. What can I do untill then to keep him from as much apin as possible.

Answer 1

How about a chiropractor for horses there is such thing.. maybe he has something out of place that might need to be fixed... I would definitely have a vet refer you...

good luck hope he gets better

Answer 2

Cold hose his back a couple times a day  and put some liniment on. If it's really bad you could give him some bute but I would try to avoid medicating him too much if you can avoid it. Also make sure he gets plenty of turnout so he can work out some of the soreness and try stretching him. Grab a treat and encourage him to stretch down between his legs and to both of his sides. Another thing that might help is to lunge him lightly and encourage him to stretch down and out so that he can work the soreness out a bit.

I would recommend having your vet refer you to a chiropractor. Also make sure he is being trimmed correctly. My horse was having a lot of back problems recently and we found out that it was because our new farrier wasn't trimming him right. (we have since gotten our old farrier back. thank goodness) Try using a theraputic saddle pad to give him more support and do excercises that keep him supple and flexible in his back so that he doesn't get sore as easily. for instance, warm him up on a loose rein and allow him to really stretch down and out. this will allow him to use his back and warm up those muscles before they're put into use. i hope this helps good luck.

Answer 3

The obvious answer is don't ride him....anything else would be either medical or other professional help....you shouldn't just give medications indiscriminately since many have side effects to consider, so unless you have access to a pro who could come to your property and, say, give the injection (best choice) or try something like acupuncture or massage, just staying off of him might be all you can do.

Answer 4

You could get a chiropractor to come out and work on him. I've seen them do amazing things for sore horses. Watch closely and you can learn some of the techniques that he uses and try them yourself.

Answer 5

Buy a custom-made saddle to fit you and your horse. This saddle will fit to his back - as well as your seat and legs. It will minimize any amount of soreness he could get - from you simply riding him.

Another option, is to put a thicker pad under your saddle - gel pads, sheepskin pads, foam pads.. anything will do - that might help him as well. Good luck :)

Answer 6

i would get a sheep skin half pad even if you have a fitting saddle. I have a therapy guy that does an electric therapy on my horse. He charges $65 per treatment. So i think it is reasonable and i see really great results. I am not exactly sure what it is called but it works. My mare gets sore too and it really helps her. Also putting a cooling gel like HPQR will draw out the heat in the horses back after every ride.

Massage is good too but it is temperary and expensive.

Check if he is hallow in his back when you ride. He could just me making himself sore.

Some horses are just cold backed. When you get on don't immediatly sit on his back. Let him walk a lap so he can warm his muscles before you sit down.

Hope he feels better :)